News in Brief

ECO Single Currency Delayed Again

Jean-Claude Brou, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said that the community has agreed to delay the launch of the ECO, the single currency for ECOWAS, to 2027.

The idea of a single currency was first floated back in 1983. In 2019, ECOWAS agreed on the name, and the date of introduction of 2020. That date was missed, however, due to countries focusing on handling the pandemic and the need for more time for member countries to implement the necessary convergence criteria.

ECOWAS has 15 members, eight of whom use the West African franc, which the ECO would replace. The other seven are Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone).

Taiwan Committee Calls for Redesign

Chiang Kai-shek should be removed from Taiwanese banknotes and coins when the central bank carries out a redesign of the nation’s currency, the Transitional Justice Commission said in a report to the government.

The Commission was convened in 2019 to deal with reconciliation, justice and human rights. Chiang Kai-shek was a military leader and revolutionary who led the Republic of China until 1949, and then Taiwan when his government retreated there, where he imposed martial law and persecuted critics during the so-called period of White Terror. He died in 1975.

According to the Commission’s report, the purpose of currency design is to promote symbols and values that unify the nation and represent it to the outside world. However, the prominence of Chiang Kai-shek on money suggests an overemphasis on political leadership and the glorification of ‘strongmen’, which is at odds with democratic norms, it said.

Hence currency bearing his image (the NT$1 and NT$5 coins and the NT$200 banknotes) should be taken out of circulation and replaced with new designs to be selected via an appropriate process that enables civic participation. The replacement designs should underscore the nation’s cultural distinctiveness, natural landscape and the progressive values of cultural diversity, gender equality and environmentalism, the report concluded.

New £100 Raises £250,000

A charity auction held to coincide with the launch of the Bank of Scotland’s new £100, in early May, has raised nearly £250,000.

The note completes the Bank’s new all-polymer series, which began in 2016. The character on the reverse is the medical pioneer and suffragette Dr Flora Murray (1869-1923), who was honoured for her work during the 1st World War in opening hospitals to treat injured servicemen. Her full-colour portrait also appears in the holographic stripe.

The auction of rare and special notes from the new design, provided by De La Rue, was carried out by Spinks. No individual lot sold for less than £320, while the highest price by far was obtained for the first lot in the sale, a note with the serial number AA000001, which sold for £17,000 (triple its £4,000-6,000 estimate).

The proceeds are being donated to Mental Health UK and The Royal Free Hospital in London, which provided the artwork of Flora Murray for the design.

Pakistan Scraps Polymer Pilot

The State Bank of Pakistan will be going ahead with a commemorative banknote to mark the 75th anniversary of the foundation for the country but on paper and not, as originally planned, on polymer. It is likely to be issued in August.

The Bank issued a tender last August for polymer for two commemorative banknotes - the other being to mark the 75th anniversary of the Bank in 2023. The tender was for enough substrate for 100 million notes of each, along with design and operator training. The use of polymer for both notes was intended to serve as a pilot for the substrate.

It appears, however, that the committee evaluating the bids recommended that the production of the notes be outsourced – the first to De La Rue on SAFEGUARD® and the second to CCL Secure on GUARDIAN™.

But the government decided, in light of current economic circumstances and shrinking foreign reserves, to have the notes produced domestically instead by Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, and on paper.

Rumours of NCR Sale

A potential takeover of ATM and self-service technology provider NCR is rumoured to be on the cards, with Apollo Group (with whom it vied, and won, to acquire Cardtronics last year) and Veritas Capital the names most talked about as potential buyers out of a list of six.

NCR announced a comprehensive review in February to evaluate a full range of strategic alternatives to enhance value for stakeholders These could involve a disposal of all or some of the business, a spin-off, merger, or other structural changes.

According to (unconfirmed) comments from an NCR executive, conversations the company has had with potential suitors are ‘extremely constructive’.

NCR reported sales of $7.15 billion for 2021, and EBITDA of $1.24 billion. Its current market capitalisation is $4.3 billion.

CIT Sustainability Initiatives

Loomis has issued a sustainability-linked bond loan to Svensk Exportkredit (SEK) of SEK 300 million. The proceeds will be used for day-to-day operations and has a term of four years.

The bond loan is linked to Loomis’ sustainability-linked financing framework, which was published in November 2021, and the outcome of the sustainability target of reducing its absolute CO2 emissions by 20% by 2025 compared with the 2019 level.

Meanwhile Prosegur Cash and Prosegur have announced that they are the first private security companies in the world to obtain and publish their S&P Global Ratings’ ESG Evaluations. These evaluations assess a company’s ESG strategy and ability to prepare for potential future ESG risks and opportunities.

Following this analysis, S&P Global Ratings has awarded a score of 62/100 to Prosegur and of 64/100 to Prosegur Cash, specifically highlighting the environmental actions relating to the management of greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and pollution.

The two companies have also announced their latest carbon offsetting project, by supporting the Punta Palmeras Wind Farm project in Chile. The output of this farm prevents the emission of 119,000 tons of CO2 by coal-fired power plants and the import of some 215,000 barrels of oil to generate the same energy.